ok, in the rear trunk, at the rear most, behind the dogbone, its pretty decently rusted....now the rear panel isnt rusted, just the trunk floor...my question is can i get by with just cutting out the floor, or do i have to do the whole back section like sir andy..

im not the greatest welder, so id like to stay away from the entire thing, if possible, i dont really wanna compromise the strength of teh chassis

i dont have a pic of the spot, so i will graciously use one of sir andy's (i hope you dont mind)

depending on how bad the rust is, the "proper" way is to replace the entire panel, this requires removing the spot welds and replacing it with a new or good used panel.


patching can be done also if you cut out the area and replace with donor patch, this can be easier and less work....the challange will be finding a good donor patch....the panel might be available from Restoration Design (???)

any idiot can get a piece of flat metal and weld up a hole, but it'll look like cr@p and piss off the next owner (BTDT on both occasions, LOL)

well, on my parts car, the whole area is good, plan on using the part from there, but the question is, can i just remove the trunk floor, or do i have to remove the rear panel also, because it seems to be an integrated piece

There is a lip on the trunk floor that comes up the rear panel by a little less than an inch. The trunk floor and rear panel are spot welded together along this lip. If you sand the paint/rust down a but you will be able to see each sport weld which you can then drill out with a very handy spot weld cutter.

You only have to remove the trunk floor.

If you check out a website of any of the resellers, there are pictures of the replacement floor panel. Once you see the panel you will get a better idea of what you will have to cut out.

I've seen this refered to in a couple threads now. What is it? Is it just a particular kind of drill bit?

Yeah, it took me a while to find them the first time, but check your friendly local automotive provider. They have a toothed circle (like a little hole saw) which you centre on the spot weld, use it in a drill or air-drill, and it cuts the metal out around the weld. Once the panel is out you can grind down the plug that is left, nice labour saver.

If Miles was around I am sure he could draw a picture of one.

When you cut it out, be careful not to f-up the bracing for the towhook and the rear swaybar mounts
Those are all attached to the bottom of the piece you need to remove

Yeah. And remember (take measurements) where the muffler heat shield is mounted.......

BTW does anyone have any location measurements for that? Doh.

about that much ...


cut out


the new clip


voila!

Only replace what's bad... replacing the whole rear end is gonna be a LOT more work

actually, it was fairly painless ...

drill out all the spotwelds and the whole rear clip just slides out.
slide in the new one, weld it up and you're done!

took one long saturday ...

Andy